The Of F series
by April Twelving
Summary: The Of f series. Plot-less one-shot drabbles. Each chapter relates a different theme of Natsume and Mikan's 'off'ness, if you know what I mean. Summary is short because I suck at it.
1. OF REMINISCENCE AND CONSUMMATING LOVE

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I had already posted the first chapter of this story as a wholly different story earlier, you can find that on my profile. The only difference between that one and this current chapter is that this one has been revised by a beta. There will be minor changes between the two, you'd be clever if you might be able to make it out. **

**Thanks for the one or two reviews I got. And thanks to those readers who had favorited me and that earlier story. Please take care of me from now on, too. これからもどうぞよろしくお願いします！**

**ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Enclipse Du Coeur for beta-ing this story. I owe her one. **

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The Of(f) series.

Plot-less one-shot drabbles. Each chapter relates a different theme of Natsume and Mikan's 'off'ness, if you know what I mean. Summary is short because I suck at it.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or anything related to it. The rightful owners do.**

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**CHAPTER ONE: OF REMINISCENCE AND CONSUMMATING LOVE**

She turned in her sleep, tossing her sheets away from her side, covering my face while doing so. And being so sensitive to every other movement around me, I awoke—when I didn't want to. The night had been serene and I wanted that to last forever. Though all the times I spend with her make me feel blessed, this was a moment which I never wanted to let go.

Sighing, I shut my eyes tighter, hoping that sleep would take over my senses again. But all I could do was feign. I turned, too, only to grab her around her torso and pull her gently toward me. As sleepy as she was, or maybe tired from last night's experimentations, I couldn't put my finger on what it was…she didn't react in any way when I yanked her toward my bare, muscled chest.

I hugged her tight and put my mouth over her pale shoulder which was revealing from under the sheets. I inhaled her aroma so deep that my head was going dizzy. Her sweet strawberry scent was something one would always want to hover around and too bad for my little tangerine, I'd gotten used to it. I smiled for what seemed to be the first time in my twenty years of torture.

Yes, torture would somehow be just about the right word to describe the cocktail gone sour since long: my life. You see, that is just what is on the menu.

But when an indicative picture of the cocktail is placed right next to its description of contents and such, it makes the ordering part more sensible. And that is: mental torture.

Also, it's something along the lines of an eye-catcher; something like a cherry placed on the wedge of the cocktail flute.

When explained and understood, my personal life would sound hellish. And that would be another mocktail…

My mother had died almost immediately after giving birth to my little sister. Experiments I think were that what killed her. The doctors had wanted to test the possibilities of risk at its highest peak; they had wanted to try to see if my mother would overcome her condition to deliver the baby out safely. Though with all the precautionary measures they had taken, they managed to perform a small glitch in the whole process and in just a blink of an eye, she died.

Just like that.

I saw it all. I saw the whole thing live from the small transparent circle in the door of the operation theatre, a room which was supposed to save people. But I witnessed the opposite. The lovely black haired lady whom I used to tease as an old hag and stick my tongue out was no more.

Without her warm presence, our mansion seemed more like a haunted house. Now in our family of three, only Aoi and me reside in our mansion house as my father always stays at his small penthouse in Hokkaido, afraid that he would be consumed with thoughts of my mother if he should ever come around anywhere near Tokyo. Though the mansion would be bustling about with servants trying their best to keep it primmer than it already was, most of the rooms were completely empty and because of that, it gave off an eerie aura to everyone around it.

Overcome with grief for the death of the one lady he loved most, my father was inconsolable. Even with everyone doing their best to soothe the environment in which I and my father had been engulfed in, he would remain just like that. He would hold the large picture of the both of them, taken when in their courtship days, hold it close to his chest and weep silent tears which mirrored his sorrow. He touched neither a morsel of food nor a drop of water and stayed that way for days together.

Night and day, I could hear his faint whispers to his departed wife; he was talking to her. It all made sense to me only after I realized it a few years later. For him, Kaoru Hyuuga _was_ alive. Deep in his heart, the sweet lady whom he would love till the end of time lived on. Why, I had thought, those tears just added more into the never ending ocean of grief. Not wanting to show my pain to others, I had never for once shed a tear: I didn't want anyone to even think that I had a weakness.

To forget it all, Ioran Hyuuga took to business. Pulling his adorable children into the industry, he developed a different kind of bond with them. No matter how much he tried to bury his sorrow at his wife's death, he was never successful at it. His exterior showed a tough, ruthless businessman—_高い_: expensive. But in the interior, he always had the longing to stay by the grave of his wife while his soul would be screaming inside him to be let out to rejoin with my mother's which had departed long back—_安い_: cheap…and about to explode.

My sweet, innocent sister was the only person who changed our hearts. Well, mine at the least. We wanted her to live peacefully in the special house into which we had moved—a house which my father had purchased after much consultation, so that Aoi might be free from any of my mother's memories. Our wish was to fill her life thoroughly with joy; we wanted her to be carefree, just like the wonderful butterflies that we had painted ourselves on the walls of her large room. Even with all our lavish pampering, Aoi was never once detected to have a snobby character. We should only be thankful to God, or my mother who was watching over us from the heavens for Aoi having turned out to be an absolute angel.

She was very good friends with people of every other social strata; she was never the 'I'm-a-princess-treat-me-like-royalty' kind of person and she is the same even now. Ever since Aoi started to understand the things happening around her, there was not much of a faint sniff or a drop of a tear from my father, and also the servants of the house who were always so very fond of their departed Lady Hyuuga.

We were her mother, father, brother, friend and everything else with her being just the same to us. We changed her life like she changed ours. We brought the change in such a way that she never took to heart that our mother had died. My Buriko, having vested her heart and soul in a profession which she finds is passionate enough, is now eighteen and is already at the top of her career as a successful event planner. Aoi Hyuuga is the most cheerful person I have known so far besides my mother…and Mikan. Well, _my_ Mikan.

Whenever I seemed to swirl a bit too far into my sorrow laden past, I would usually delve so deep into thoughts about it that I would have no sense of my then current state unless snapped. This would never fail to bring a mild migraine to my head and it was the same even then.

Wanting to have a shower to cool my senses, I groaned a little. The thought of staying away from her for even a second caused me pain. I'd wanted to shower _with_ her—isn't that how it goes with all the lovers almost all the time? But given that she was deep asleep, I let it go.

I slid out of the bed after swathing her gently in the sheets like a cocoon. I slipped into my pants which lay haphazardly on the floor and stretched my arms. Yawning, I stretched widely, allowing every small muscle in my body to contract and relax.

Last night…other than being tiresome, it was sweaty. I sniffed my nose to smell my scent. Ah, it was a mixture—of mine, and of course, mostly hers. _'I'd smell like an appetizing strawberry if I don't have a hot shower soon.'_ As hungry as I was for her scent and wanted her flavor around me, it was still slick against me.

I walked into the open bathroom and not pausing to shut the door behind me, I turned the knob of the shower. Hot water ran through my body while calming my tensed muscles on the way. I stood that way for what seemed to me like ages and stepped out, reluctant to turn the knob the other way.

I examined my face in the mirror. Blood had pooled under the surface of my cheeks—I was blushing. Well, that was a first if I should say so myself. And if Mikan saw that, she'd definitely think that I had crossed over to the side of constant or even eternal light and warmth—which I hadn't. Not yet, at least. I covered my eyes with my bangs, which usually blocked anyone from reading my face even with the emotionless mask I always wore. I wrapped a towel around my waist and strode over to the refrigerator in my tastefully decorated, state-of-the-art kitchen.

I opened its pale colored double doors to scan it briefly and locked my eyes on the carton of milk which was my target. My fridge was never so full until Mikan came around. Her cooking reduced my daily habit of eating out at pizza and burger outlets. I drank the contents of the carton greedily. _'All that shouting and sweating must've made me thirsty.'_ Sure I was shouting like hell last night. It was too much, the pleasure… I wasn't able to bear it; my body seemed too small to contain all the bliss. That was just what I felt in me. My chest was thrumming; it seemed like her every touch always left an open invitation, calling for more. Last night, we'd made history as we were the only couple out there exploring a new world of our own.

I'd always been spending so much time lying around her room playing on my PS or reading manga. Other than that, I would usually be seen kissing Mikan with no gentleness whatsoever or playing pervert around her. It seemed that Polka had whined a small complaint to her abnormal best friend over my lack of romance. So Imai, being the ice queen as she is, blasted me with her stupid Baka Cannon and handed me a 'romantic-no-nonsense-guide'.

I wondered how on Earth my best friend Ruka Nogi, was able to stand a girl like her. Let alone have her as his _girlfriend_. The very thought made me scoff. Then again, the blasting was the only thing which made me realize the reason as to which Mikan hadn't criticized my pervertedness around her for the last couple of days.

I am Hyuuga Natsume and I don't like it when I'm taught about something or just when I am being commented on. Even if Imai was nothing but caring for me in a way, it was still _my_ love life. And I am going to make sure that no one would interrupt me in any way, even if they are going to give me just a piece of advice for my own good. Here I am to conquer a kingdom. I would either win the war…or win it. The word 'lose' was never to be found in my dictionary. Being the poor boy I am, I never have had any knowledge of the word to even consider it. Without another glance at the glossy guide, I chucked it into the shredder at my workplace where I watched the book tear up in a million or so pieces while I sat behind my mahogany desk smirking.

That very night, I planned to take her out for a spin at romantic places. I had spoken to Aoi for over an hour, explaining what I wanted, and asked her to plan the day in such a way that it would be agreeable with Mikan's tastes. Since my sister had complete knowledge of my only love, I felt reassured with entrusting the planning of the day to Aoi.

Among many other things, we went riding through those heart shaped tunnel thingies, danced some tango, enjoyed a candlelit dinner, and finally closed the curtain to the show in my king sized bed. I must say, it was pretty hard for me to talk to her without avoiding my usual perverted behavior which I'd gotten used to. But I _had_ to, if I wanted my only true love to be together with me. Not that Polka would ever consent to a break up with me in the first place: the very thought of her ending our relationship made me smirk at its foolish notion.

The fact that Mikan was a pure virgin, totally new to the world of seduction, made me very proud. I went deep into her, my hardness exploring every other crevice of her unexplored domain. I was the master. But unlike her usual 'slow learner' type, she quickly grasped everything and was totally on the same play mode as I was. Sure she had the innocence of a sophomore schoolgirl, but when it came to these things, she totally turned me on with that teasing attitude of hers. My Ichigo Kara definitely is unique.

I'd always wanted to do that to Polka ever since we were together. But I was cautious and careful enough not to hurt her in any way. Back then, I wanted to let her know that it wasn't her body that I was attracted to, but her sweet love—I'd yearned so much for it. But after she came to know the full extent of my emotional love for her, it seemed that she wanted to take our relationship to the next level.

Now that we'd conquered the other level, hell it was! My feelings were a tie between her love and her body. We made paradise and we reveled in it. True I'd known lust, but I had never experienced a thing like _that_ before—it was completely different. If I was a god at making love, then she was a goddess as she was definitely on the same level as I was even though it was her first shot at it.

Let me put it in a much simpler, yet meaningful way: We were the first lovers of the world and we were gods. But just as before, physical love was not something for which I'd always pursued Mikan. It was for her pure soul that had not one trace of darkness. I, being the most inoffensive sadistic person, and having a thoroughly tortured soul for one, wanted to experience something out of the world I'd lived in. Mikan, I always thought, was my reward—though I don't know for which effort of mine.

Back when I was unaccustomed to the way in which things worked, I was under the impression that the female gender is very understanding and caring for the most. But of course, that impression had to do a back-track once I discovered my true potential in the world which was mainly based on my looks and wealth and all the fame it brought along. If the female population sets its eyes on me for just a fraction of a second, I guess that only two idiotic reasons would be visible to them.

One: A mortal angel has descended upon Earth.

Two: The angel is incredibly and unbelievably rich enough to feed a few generations.

I guess those two reasons would be just enough for them all to start their efforts in trying to pin me down with their flirtatious natural instincts. Nope…that wouldn't be in the right sense. They'd actually be _throwing_ themselves at me.

It became very hard for me to even step out to the nearest convenience store to buy a can of soda or grab a couple of manga. Their 'angel's' much sought after life which was a kind of heaven at least till then, turned into total hell. For me, Natsume Hyuuga, Armageddon had already come upon the Earth in the form of females—except for my late mother and my sister, that is. That remained so until, of course, my tangerine princess walked into my much abused shadowy life.

I gulped down the special nutrient rich milk Mikan had bought for me. After that, I would've usually thrown the carton somewhere on the floor of my big kitchen, ignoring the trash bin which was right beneath the sink. But thanks to Mikan's strict overseeing yet again, I dutifully threw the empty carton into the bin. After my thirst for _normal liquids_ had been quenched, I went to my grand room.

Mikan Sakura, the most confusing jigsaw puzzle I'd ever tried to solve, is most undoubtedly the true love of my life…my soul mate. Strange as it is for everyone else to understand, she is the piece who is supposed to fit with me perfectly. True, no one can really comprehend the mystery in our relationship once they get to know our attitudes; I am almost unsociable—I hardly talk to my own family. And she is the sun which would never set for eternity—even a stranger could become her good friend right away. Now that was something which caused me to smile and frown as well. The idiotic girl is just too innocent for her own good.

My beautiful reformer was still in bed, just as she was before, curled into a tight ball. I plopped myself onto the center of the bed, careful enough not to wake my sleeping beauty. For something to do, I ruffled her hair gently and smoothed a few curls out of the frame of her cute, angelic face. She stirred a little, and smiled unconsciously; she was obviously dreaming about Howalon fluff-puffs, given that she was drooling over the soft pillows.

I sighed. Some things never change.

I felt a little jealous, though; whom would she choose to be on top of her love priority list? I wish she wouldn't choose Howalons over me. I wondered if she had the maturity to carefully weigh her choices and make the decision, even if I was just fooling around a bit. Although I was just musing over that kiddy issue, I still admit that I felt a pang of jealousy. I wanted her to dream and drool that way about ME; not those fluff-puff candies which hardly last in one's tongue for mere seconds…

While I was musing over that and smoothing her hair absentmindedly, a smirk suddenly seemed to be plastered on my face; I had just the perfect punishment for her for ruining my expensive silk pillow covers. Later when she'd wake up, I would demand another round with her to play my lover. I kept watching her for what seemed to be an immeasurable period of time. I kept my eyes locked on her face, not able to withdraw my gaze. I looked at her lips; those full pink, luscious and tasty lips which never for once have failed to turn me on.

I touched it with my index finger, moistening my finger tip while I stroked its length. I sensed a sudden urge building in me to grab her and kiss her senseless, not caring about the fact that she was deep asleep. I hated to burst her bubble but I'm afraid that I can never exercise my usual stance of self control whenever I'm around her. _Everything_ about her was sweet—even her heavenly tasting cum had traces of sweetness! As absorbed as I was at looking at nothing but just her soft lips, it seemed that I'd subconsciously crawled closer to her. I placed my forehead against hers and kissed the tip of her shiny nose.

I stayed a moment that way, inhaling deeply, taking in her sweet strawberry fragrance. My proximity to her made the fragrance heady and it hit me fresh in the face. Just when I took a fresh sniff of the scent, whatever little self control I thought I had, vanished into nowhere and all my noble thoughts were muddled. I could not but crash her lips with mine when she was 'torturing' me in that way. Since she was murmuring in her sleep, I took advantage of it and opened her mouth and shoved my hot tongue inside her tender mouth. All this while that I was kissing her so roughly and intently, she were still damn asleep.

I, The Natsume Hyuuga, kiss a girl and she doesn't respond to it?

Tsk, tsk.

That didn't go well with me; I frowned. Yesterday, she was on the same play level as I was and now? She's snoring bubbles off her nose! Even in a moment like that, Mikan didn't fail to amuse me. A small frown was plastered on my forehead and then I bit her. As careful as I was on trying not to hurt her in any possible way, I couldn't take her ignorance. I fixed my strong teeth onto her sensuous lips until I'd tasted a kind of saltiness. I'd drawn blood.

Ichigo's eyes flew open; she should have probably finished her Howalon box by then.


	2. OF THE HUSBAND AND TWINS

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please note that my having written here that Natsume and Mikan's engagement was when they were both twelve might be purely fictious; I say 'might' because I'm too lazy to go back to reading the manga again to research their true age when Higuchi Tachibana san engaged those two. Not really lazy though…I don't have a regular internet connection. The names of Natsume and Mikan's kids are of people in Japan who I know and are like family to me. I claim nothing over the names though. Ryuuma is the name of my host brother who is currently in elementary, and Riku is the name of the very cute student volunteer who I went gaga over during my stay in Japan; very vain of me, eh? Those are their first names; of course I wouldn't soil their family names by using them in my weird fanfiction writing.**

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The Of(f) series.

Plot-less one-shot drabbles. Each chapter relates a different theme of Natsume and Mikan's 'off'ness, if you know what I mean. Summary is short because I suck at it.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or anything related to it. The rightful owners do. However, the plot IS mine and I will go ninja on you (YES, YOU!) if you infringe on my work. 『学園アリス』とその漫画／アニメは私のじゃありません。作った人のです。でもさ、私考えて、そして書いたこの物語は私だけのです。これをコ一ピ一することは『絶対ダメ』だ！覚えて下さい。**

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**CHAPTER TWO: OF THE HUSBAND AND TWINS**

A true husband is someone who keeps his wife light on her feet, makes her feel she's special, treat her like a woman, wife, child, friend, as an equal—well, sometimes not… show her that she does have him whipped in her little hands, whisper those sweet nothings into her ear when she wakes up startled from a nightmare, prove to her he is there in her reality as well and that he would protect her from everything there is out there which might, of all things, even make her forehead crease for a little, be 'cheesy-over-the-top' just to please her, treats her to little niceties when there are really no special occasions in order to just make her feel secure, fights with her like there's no tomorrow, makes it up to her later with all that he's got, teases her, makes her feel that none of those other ladies and 'billboard-model-like' women are all but invisible in his eyes, pampers her, peppers little kisses now and then, here and there just to evoke that brilliant blush on her already rosy cheeks, pets her, respects her for her pure inner being rather than just her illuminating beauty, places her as the most shining star in the Christmas tree of his life, makes her pride stand out in her discussions with her lady friends when they talk of their husbands, does justice to her potential of being a mother, supports her throughout the hardships of raising their child and makes just about each and every day stand out in their marital life like the display of fireworks on the last day of the summer festival.

The list goes on; the more one gets involved in compiling such a stirring list, the more one will find it to be expanding. and then, that 'cheesy-over-the-top' husband decides to give it a rest, and upon reflecting on it, goes over to his lovely wife to try out with her about what else he could add to his list. There, the list continues yet again.

Just as how the waves have continued to wash up against the shore ever since the earth started spinning, to bash against more rock, resolving it to powder and then into fine sand when the beach is already stretched out with aplenty of it: an infinite amount of words could be compiled when a person starts thinking about something, when perused from every angle possible. Emotions always play a major adhesive role while complementing those words.

Sure he doesn't have to be the exact living image of the 'tall, dark and handsome' persona which is commonly agreed among folk as 'THE apt description' for the perfect man. Don't they say that a mother decrees her child—even if it is of the ugliest in appearance—as the most beautiful thing in the world she knows? Just as so, when the husband manages to play his cards right, and manage to be 'the man' in his element, why would the wife care about how he looks? He would be in her regard just as how she remains in his. Why else would they call your spouse as 'the better half'? Though it does not have to work true for all the cases, this is still the prevailing truth, is it not?

The earnest bond of husband and wife finds glory time and again in history, celebrated by poets and bards, in legends, stories, fables, songs—well by everyone when you actually look at it. But the crux is that when they're all so absorbed in celebrating it by writing more about it, no one actually lives that way.

Hence a true husband can be comprehended up to a level as he goes along a certain terminology of chemistry—an ideal gas. "An ideal gas is a type of gas which obeys both the Charles' law and Boyle's law under all conditions of temperature and pressure. It is actually a fictious force which is used as a comparing parameter while referring to the nature of the gas which is to be examined." Well, that is what I remember. But then again, I'm not THAT strong when it comes to Chemistry. So let's just assume that such a husband is very, very rare.

Then again, there are certain exceptions for various explanations in the world and Natsume Hyuuga just happened to be the rarest exception of them all. He was simply the living example of the most perfect husband in the world.

He had Mikan under his eye ever since they were ten, already wanted to become an adult and run away with her from Alice Academy just an year or two later, claimed her first and following kisses and even got her engaged to himself all before the bar of even twelve years! True that though Natsume loved Mikan more than anything else, he was always thought upon in quite a perverted and annoying manner in Mikan's books as his pride had always got the better of him whenever he wanted to show off his more charming side to her.

Maybe because he thought it would lead him to lose the title of…oh! He had so many titles owing to his name back then, so it must be that he thought he'd lose his 'tough-all-the-time' persona. People in the academy except for Mikan were all of the stupendous, but of course impossible belief that the sun would probably start rising from the west, or maybe some other huge cosmic phenomenon to take place supposing Natsume should swallow all his pride in the future, get down on one knee to endeavor to secure Mikan's hand in marriage.

Even Hotaru Imai believed so, selling pre-ordered tickets to everyone in the Academy, and to the world outside the Academy should such an event occur.

Little did they know that it had already happened way earlier on a Christmas night—though he was more prideful than ever and almost commanded her with it. Not that Mikan had any objections to it; she knew Natsume better than he knew himself. Too bad none of those cosmic events couldn't take place, save for the fact that Mikan had been forced to separate from him for a good five years almost immediately after their engagement for which the eternal moon stood as witness.

Time went by, with Natsume trying his best to rescuing his bride-to-be back to his side without breaking his promise to her that he would not over exert the use of his fire Alice. Of course Hotaru couldn't get to stage her event, and people who'd pre-ordered the tickets never got a refund for the money paid. Obvious much?

She was brought back by Persona to Alice Academy at the age of seventeen, after going through rigorous training elsewhere in the world for an excruciating five years. The whole of class 2-B graduated after an year, a month after which Natsume and Mikan were married by Narumi under the same Sakura tree which had been a mysterious harbour to getting together for those two, with everyone they'd known till then in the audience.

Most people found it funny that it was Narumi who both gave away Mikan from a father's place and also conducted their wedding. Not surprisingly, the traditional bouquet and garter throwing were claimed by the other infamous couple of class 2-B: Ruka Nogi and Hotaru Imai.

Not less than a month or so after the marriage on the honeymoon, Mikan found out she was pregnant with Natsume's kid. Mikan was always found blushing about how soon she had conceived. Natsume was happier than anyone could ever have been in history. It was exactly what he'd always wanted: to get out of the Academy, to live a free life with the woman he loved, and raise a family of his own somewhere off in the countryside. For him, joy knew no boundary. His Mikan was pregnant with his kid. That was it; he didn't need anything else.

Nine months followed in the middle of which it was revealed that Mikan was carrying twins. And twins were what he wanted ever since their honeymoon! Something large and warm sort of snapped in Natsume, and there! Mikan was pampered and spoiled to no extent: Natsume gave in to every one of his Princess' indulges. His being rich was more useful than ever at that time. He was prone to the teeniest bit of over-reaction, always ever so protective.

His friends from the Academy were stupefied: Natsume Hyuuga, the deadly frightening Black Cat all soft and smiley for his pregnant wife? He might as well just turn himself into Howalon to please Polka Hyuuga. So whipped the man was!

Ryuuma Hyuuga and Riku Hyuuga were identical twins. They were ushered into the world right in their parents' bedroom; Natsume had went so overboard that he'd transformed his house into a mini hospital with the guidance and overseeing of the kids' Uncle Ruka. Who ever knew that Ruka would finally settle into treating humans than opt for veterinary?

High pitched screams joining that of their mother's indicated their hale health. Five minutes of being in the world and the twins found themselves cradled against their father's chest. With a twin on each hand while facing a very exhausted Mikan, Natsume gently rocked them. He reached over to give his wife a deep breath-taking kiss and a very sincere 'I love you, Mikan'.

The twins had inherited Natsume's genes to the most; Koko had passed out immediately on seeing the twins shouting out that he could possibly not have much of a lifespan to face two more of Natsume. Ruka and Hotaru were to be named godparents as soon as they would get hitched. Youichi Hijiri took up the title of elder brother. And Narumi, Mikan's jii-chan and Natsume's father all were to be grandpas.

Mikan's closest girlfriends from class 2-B: Hotaru, Anna, Nonoko, Permy and Nobara all had stars in their eyes whenever they set their eyes on Natsume taking care of his children. Of course they were all still either in the dating or in the engaged level with their respective beaus.

But never had they heard before of a man taking such tender care of his children, and also his wife without the least grumbling. They did know that it wasn't a façade because it is well known that Natsume Hyuuga never involves in anything unless his heart is fully set unto doing it. Natsume had his secretary take him off the hook as the main CEO of his many companies for a period of at least a year and six months. Those positions were taken on by Natsume's friends from class 2-B, Youichi and much to Natsume's discontent: Tsubasa Andou was one of the people helping him out with his work. Thanks to Mikan's interference, that is.

Natsume's everyday schedule revolved fully around his wife and children. Never was there a moment where one could see Natsume spend a minute away from them. Taking care of the twins—right from the diaper work, helping Mikan feed them, play with them, calm them down whenever a crying spell broke out and much, much more. In short, Natsume was the key charm in working with the twins.

When the twins woke their parents up in the oddest hours of the day with their loud wails, neither Natsume nor Mikan took turns to go attend to them. Nor did they blame themselves saying it was all the fault of the spouse and that it was their duty to attend to them.

The parents would always hold hands and rise together from bed, walk over to the nursery and each of them would attend to a twin. Very true: the Hyuuga household was the funniest in the neighbourhood when Natsume married. But it was way more funny and crazy ever since the babies arrived. Neighbours would find good fun and pleasure in gathering around the Hyuuga residence's fence and listen to all the bickering going on inside.

Hotaru made good use of this opportunity where Natsume was all softie to record the family's everyday antics and transform it into a series of successful DVDs which were always number one on Japan's list of top ten celebrity DVDs and in all the countries where Natsume was known. Daddy Hyuuga sure was enraged on hearing this: but the incident was wiped off from his memory as soon as little Ryuuma claimed Daddy's attention with the small flame he produced.

Anna, Nonoko, Sumire, Aoi, Nobara…why even Hotaru! All of them couldn't help but feel a little jealous about the life Mikan got to live. Sure all their boyfriends and fiancées were gentlemen of their own class, but of course they could not compete in any way with Natsume and his charms—which got upgraded ever since his marriage.

Dear readers, before you go on reading further, I should like to remind you, to ask you if you remember the qualities of the true husband as mentioned in the opening of this story. Do you remember? Well, good. If not, I should request you to scroll back up and spend a minute or two to re-read it again. For you see, it is of utmost essence that you remember all those sweet and important qualities in order to appreciate maybe at least a little of what I suppose to be the final climax of this story.

Of all the husbands in the world, one can find many of those 'true husbands' as I put it. But to top all of those qualities (from my point of view) is for him to give a small incentive to his wife, as a major appreciation when he grants her motherhood. But beating even _that_ incentive would be for him to make her feel like she's doing a great job as a mother—always. Supporting her every minute, sharing everything she has to do, make her feel forever and ever that it was her best decision in all of her life to have married him, and had a family with him.

I am quite convinced that it would be such husbands who would manage to keep their wives smiling all the time, even way past the time when they're both in their nineties; those husbands might as well deserve a 'guaranteed-to-last-a-lifetime' sticker to their foreheads or a ribbon to their chests.

Well then, Mikan found her 'true husband'. Let's all just cross our fingers and hope we'll find 'that husband' for ourselves, too.

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皆さん、頑張って下さいね～ええ！Everyone, please do your best!

Please review so I can know where I go wrong, and how you all like my writing. ^^ Or hate it...


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